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    College News

    Acclaimed culinary program at El Centro College adds new North Dallas campus

    Teresa Gubbins
    Dec 18, 2019 | 9:53 am
    El Centro College
    pgal.com

    The acclaimed chef/hospitality program at downtown Dallas' El Centro College is going next level, with an expansive new outpost opening in North Dallas at 11830 Webb Chapel Rd., in the space that was once home to Le Cordon Bleu cooking school.

     

    The new location comes with 50,000-plus square feet, 10 kitchens, six classrooms, and restaurant/event space that will contribute mightily to the college's program and the growth of Dallas culinary culture.

     

    It represents a new slate of services that includes not only certificates and degree programs in Culinary & Pastry Arts, but also skill-building classes for working chefs and avid amateur foodies.

     

    For 50 years, El Centro's culinary program in downtown Dallas has provided hands-on training with experienced professionals and helped students land jobs in the industry. Its alumni include acclaimed chefs such as Oliver Sitrin and Rick Griggs, currently slaying them at Taste Catering in San Francisco.

     

    The downtown program will remain. The Dallas County Community College District acquired the former Le Cordon Bleu space so that CPH can expand its continuing education courses, but also beef up industry partnerships to give students more real-life experiences in the field.

     

    Steve DeShazo, Senior Director of the new Culinary, Pastry and Hospitality program says that the changes have been in the works for a few years.

     

    "In order to keep Dallas on top we need to make big changes that encompass growth," he says. "Our expansion into this world-class culinary training facility will guarantee support for the continued growth of Dallas culinary culture."

     

    At the same time, El Centro's signature Food & Hospitality Institute will get a new name: the Culinary, Pastry and Hospitality (CPH) program. Part of the reason is good old SEO: The school wants to be among the top results for people searching for hospitality programs.

     

    "Our marketing people did a little work and found that people most often search for the words 'culinary arts'," DeShazo says.

     

    Since El Centro is part of Dallas' community college system, it's far less expensive than similar programs such as the Culinary Institute of America in New York.

     

    "Dallas is fortunate because we can do this at a fraction of the cost of for-profit culinary schools, making El Centro a mecca for students who want to gain critical skills and remain in Dallas, or explore the world beyond," DeShazo says.

     

    Working with restaurants and other employers is one thing that sets El Centro's program apart.

     

    "We believe that the work we are doing with developing a workforce for the hospitality industry is innovative not just in Dallas but the entire nation," DeShazo says.

     

    For now, they're re-working the Cordon Bleu space, most recently occupied by Pilotworks, a restaurant and food product incubator that crashed in October 2018.

     

    "El Centro almost acquired the space after Le Cordon Bleu left, but then Pilotworks came in," he says. "They moved all the equipment around and a lot of the equipment left had sat unused, so we had to do a great deal of work to get it back in condition. The good news is that it looks better than ever."

     

    To celebrate the opening, El Centro is hosting a series of celebrity chef experiences in January that will be open to the public.

     

    Called "Get Seasoned Dallas! – a Celebrity Chef Series," it'll offer a firsthand preview behind the scenes of a culinary school and experience some of the finest and most influential chefs Dallas has to offer in an intimate setting.

     

    These four-hour events, with Dallas chefs John Tesar, Junior Borges, Dean Fearing, and more, will offer the opportunity to learn cooking and recipe secrets from master craftsmen, as well as engage in a question-and-answer session in the fourth hour. Tickets for this experience are available now at www.elcentrocollege.edu/chefseries.

     
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    Chef Crime

    Dallas chef Kent Rathbun issues reward for his trusty stolen smoker

    Teresa Gubbins
    Jul 26, 2025 | 3:00 pm
    Kent Rathbun smoker
    Kent Rathbun
    Chef Kent Rathbun's missing smoker

    A revered smoker trailer belonging to Dallas chef Kent Rathbun was stolen, and Rathbun is determined to get it back.

    Rathbun is the Beard Award-nominated chef and restaurateur whose resume includes The Mansion on Turtle Creek, Abacus, Jasper's, and his current company Kent Rathbun Catering.

    The stolen smoker was kept inside a gated parking lot at Rathbun's catering kitchen, located near Irving Boulevard and Mockingbird Lane, in an industrial area west of I-35.

    Rathbun says it was stolen somewhere between July 17 and July 21. The police have been notified and there's an effort underway to locate security footage.

    "I was out of town — we didn't have a lot of catering at the time," Rathbun says. "One of our chefs found the gate open — it looked like it had been damaged. But it wasn't until I went to pick up the trailer on Monday July 21 that we realized it was gone."

    The smoker has a colorful backstory: Rathbun got it as a gift from Baxter Brinkmann, CEO and president of The Brinkmann Corporation, manufacturer of outdoor living products including gas and charcoal grills, smokers, and solar/low-voltage landscape lighting.

    "He gave me this rig as a bithday present on the day of my first Taste of NFL at Abacus," Rathbun says. "The first year that we did the Taste of NFL [the annual tailgate party to support the North Texas Food Bank], I asked Brinker if he would supply smokers and grills for all the celebrity chefs coming in from around the country. I just needed a little grill but he offered the use of this 18-foot-long outfitted smoker."

    "He came to the party, and we were standing by it, appreciating how well it worked when somebody walked up and said 'happy birthday, chef'," Rathbun says. "Baxter said, 'It's your birthday? I want you to have the smoker. And as long as you keep my name on it, I will repair it, fix it, my team will take care of it.' He was like the team captain."

    That was in 2001 and over the years, the rig has received more than its share of custom upgrades, including metal laser-cut ID tags with "Chef Kent Rathbun" affixed to every door.

    "It is so personalized that I can walk up to that trailer and will be able to recognize it, no matter what modifications may be made," Rathbun says.

    That's also why he feels certain the theft is not an inside job, as some have suggested. "Anyone on our team knows what a distinctive smoker it is," he says.

    While not a secret, the location of his catering company is not open to the public and not generally well known. Someone driving by the location could have spotted the trailer in the parking lot, but it's on an industrial side street that does not draw a lot of random motorists. The trailer would have also required a truck to pull it.

    "The thing is 18 feet long, it's giant," he says. "It's not a toy, it's a tool, and we need it to stay in business."

    Rathbun posted a plea on social media offering a $1,000 reward — "and probably a good amount of barbecue," he says — to anyone who can provide information as to its whereabouts and was met with a wave of support, including offers to chip in $500 and even $1000 to the reward pool which is now at $8,500. (You can call Rathbun at 214-704-0907 with tips.)

    "Whether I get the trailer back or not, I've been overwhelmed by how many people have stepped up and offered their support," he says.

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